Snake proof chaps

ABSTRACT

A protective garment for shielding a wearer from snake bites is disclosed. The garment is a legging made of basket weave with two ends drawn as one and two picks per shed. A coating of polyurethane is included on the inside of the basket weave fabric.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a protective article of clothing andmore particularly to leggings which are adapted to surround the legs ofa wearer whereby they are protected from snake bites.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The use of protective legging is well known in the art. In particular,hunters, hikers, and other outdoorsmen have used various protectiveleggings to protect against snake bites when walking through heavyundergrowth areas.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,036, issued to Parker et al on Aug. 30, 1966,discloses a protective legging including a protective sheet made ofaluminum or similar material.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,185, issued to Martin on June 29, 1965, discloses aprotective legging having two fabric concentric cylinders with a liningof light-weight plastic material such as styrofoam. The legging isdisclosed as being preferentially of a thickness of about five-sixths ofan inch. Although the fabric is penetrable by the fangs of a snake, thethickness of the plastic material layer prevents the fangs from reachingthe inner fabric cylinder, thereby protecting the legs of the wearer.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,853 issued to McLane on Nov. 15, 1977, discloses aprotective legging having a double layer of closely woven stainlesssteel mesh to protect the wearer against snake bites.

Although the prior art snake leggings or snake chaps have been generallyuseful in lessening the risk that the wearer will be bitten by a snake,these prior art snake leggings have been subject to one or more ofseveral disadvantages. In particular, the prior art snake chaps orleggings have often been quite heavy because of the perceived need touse metallic materials to protect against the snake's fangs. Moreover,the use of metallic materials has often required rather complexstructures for the legging, the complex structure including a pluralityof fastening means to allow the legging to be secured to the leg of awearer. Those leggings which use extra thickness to protect against asnake's fangs are generally cumbersome to put on and wear.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide anew and improved light-weight snake legging or snake chaps.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a snake leggingwhich is made of relatively thin material.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a snake leggingwhich is shaped to provide maximum protection to the wearer whilemaintaining simplicity in form and construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above and other objects of the present invention are accomplished bya generally tubular leg enclosing portion made of a woven fabric ofnylon impervious to snake bites and having an upper part and a lowerpart. Preferably, the woven fabric is a basket weave with two ends drawnas one and two picks per shed and having a coating of polyurethane onits inside. The basket weave is preferably made of threads between 900and 1100 denier and weights between 8.0 and 12.0 ounces per square yard,the coating weighing between 1 and 2 ounces per square yard. The lowerpart of the leg-enclosing portion includes a fastener, preferably azipper, operable to connect two side edges of the lower part. A securingpiece is attached to the upper part for holding the leg enclosingportion up on a wearer's leg, the securing piece preferably being astrap adapted to connect to a belt worn by the wearer of the article.The upper part includes a recessed part and a rise part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the present invention and the attendantadvantages will be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill inthe art and the invention will be more easily understood from thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 shows the preferred embodiment of the present invention with itszipper in an up position.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up of the woven fabric used for the snake chap ofthe present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the cross-section of the double layer portion at the bottomof the snake chap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in the drawings, the protective article of clothing of thepresent invention is a legging or chap 10 adapted to be worn on the legof a wearer. The legging 10 includes a generally tubular leg enclosingportion having an upper part 12 and a lower part 14. The lower part 14includes two side edges 18R and 18L which may be connected by a zippingdown zipper 16 after a wearer has inserted his leg into the legenclosing portion. As indicated in the drawing by sewing line 20, thewoven fabric of the leg enclosing portion is preferably doubled up fortwo layers throughout most of the lower part 14. The use of two fabriclayers for most of lower part 14 is useful in providing the maximumamount of protection for that part of the leg most likely to be bittenby a snake. A cuff 19 is located at the bottom of the legging.

Adjacent the top of upper part 12, there is a recessed part 22 adaptedto accommodate the crotch of a wearer. Opposite the recessed part 22 onthe generally tubular structure is a rise part 24 which will be worn onthe side of a wearer's hip. Attached to rise part 24 is a strap 26having snap fasteners 28L, 28U1, 28U2. Snap fastener 28L secures strap26 to the rise part 24 and extends out on the outside of the rise part24. By folding over the strap 26, either of upper snaps 28U1 and 28U2may be snapped to lower snap 28L thereby forming a loop out of strap 26.A belt (not shown) worn by a wearer of the legging may extend throughthe loop formed from strap 26, thereby functioning as a securing piecefor holding the leg enclosing portion up on the wearer's leg.

The generally tubular leg enclosing portion having upper part 12 andlower part 14 is made of a woven fabric of nylon resistant to snakebites. More specifically, the fabric construction is a basket weavehaving 46 ends per inch (warp) by 42 ends per inch (filling) with twoends drawn as one (warp) and two picks per shed (filling). Preferably,the nylon fiber is nylon type 6,6 in the form of continuous filamentyarn such as sold by DuPont under the trademark Cordura. The basketweave should be made of threads between 900 and 1100 denier with 1000denier being the preferred value. The basket weave weighs between 8.0and 12.0 ounces per square yard with 9.9 ounces per square yard beingthe preferred value.

In addition to the strength provided by the continuous filament of nylonfiber arranged in the basket weave configuration shown in FIG. 2, thebasket weave fabric includes on its inside (that side closest thewearer) a coating 21I of synthetic rubber polymer. As shown in FIG. 3,the cross-section of the double layer below line 20 would include anouter basket weave fabric 17 having polyurethane coating 21 and an innerbasket weave fabric 17I having polyurethane coating 21I. In thepreferred embodiment, the coating is polyurethane applied between oneand two ounces per square yard with 1.5 ounces per square yard being theideal. Whereas such a coating is quite thin, it is quite sufficient torender the woven fabric of the leg enclosing portion impervious to snakebites, especially for the double layer portion below line 20.

As part of a test of the present invention, the following listed snakeswere used:

    ______________________________________                                        2      Cottonmouth Water                                                                             Medium Size-3 feet                                            Moccasin        Very sharp fangs-length                                                       approximately 1/2 inch                                 1      Diamondback     Large Size-5 feet                                             Rattlesnake     Sharp fangs-length                                                            approximately 3/4 inch                                 1      Diamondback     Medium size-4 feet                                            Rattlesnake     Sharp fangs-length                                                            approximately 5/8 inch                                 2      Diamondback     Small Size-24/30 inches                                       Rattlesnakes                                                           ______________________________________                                    

Each snake was made to repeatedly bite the double layer part (below line20) of the snake proof chaps. Although the snakes repeatedly bit veryhard into the chaps, none of the snake fangs penetrated the chaps.

It should additionally be noted that the woven fabric of the presentinvention is less than one-quarter of an inch in thickness even in thedouble layer part below line 20. This is substantially less than thelength of the fangs for the snakes listed above. It will thus beappreciated that the present invention provides protection from snakefangs by the particular fabric weave with coating of synthetic rubberpolymer, as opposed to providing a chap which protects by virtue of itsthickness. As noted above, this avoids the problem of an overly thickchap which is cumbersome to put on and wear.

Although various materials, constructions and specifics of the presentinvention have been described herein in detail, it is to be understoodthat these are for illustrative purposes only. Various modifications andadaptions will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should bedetermined with reference to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A protective article of clothing adapted toprevent snake fangs from biting into the leg of a wearer, saidprotective article comprising:(a) a generally tubular leg enclosingportion made of a woven fabric of nylon resistant to snake bites andhaving an upper part and a lower part, said lower part including afastener for connecting two side edges of the lower part, and (b) asecuring piece attached to said upper part for holding the leg enclosingportion up on a wearer's leg, andwherein said leg enclosing portioncomprises a basket weave fabric, said basket weave fabric comprisesnylon fiber in the form of a continuous filament yarn, said basket weavefabric is made of threads between 900 and 1100 denier and weighs between8.0 and 12.0 ounces per square yard.
 2. The article of claim 1 whereinsaid securing piece is a strap adapted to form a loop for accommodatinga belt worn by the wearer of the article.
 3. The article of claim 2wherein said upper part includes a recessed part adapted to accommodatethe crotch of a wearer and a rise part opposite the recessed part, saidrise part adapted to be worn on the side of a wearer's hip, said strapextends from said rise part, and said fastener is a zipper.
 4. Thearticle of claim 1 wherein said leg enclosing portion preventspenetration by snake fangs even when the snake fangs are longer than thethickness of the leg enclosing portion.
 5. The article of claim 1wherein the inside of said basket weave fabric has a coating of asynthetic rubber polymer.
 6. The article of claim 5 wherein said coatingof synthetic rubber polymer is a polyurethane coating.
 7. The article ofclaim 1 wherein said basket weave fabric has two ends drawn as one andtwo picks per shed.
 8. The article of claim 7 wherein the inside of saidbasket weave fabric has a coating of a synthetic rubber polymer, andsaid lower part includes two layers of said basket weave fabric.
 9. Thearticle of claim 8 wherein said coating is a polyurethane coating. 10.The article of claim 9 wherein said coating is between 1 and 2 ouncesper square yard. .Iadd.
 11. A protective article of clothing adapted toprevent snake fangs from biting into the leg of a wearer, saidprotective article comprising:(a) a generally tubular leg enclosingportion made of a woven fabric of nylon resistant to snake bites andhaving an upper part and a lower part, said lower part including afastener for connecting two side edges of the lower part, and (b) asecuring means attached to said upper part for holding the leg enclosingportion up on a wearer's leg, andwherein said leg enclosing portioncomprises nylon fiber in the form of continuous filament yarn, saidwoven fabric is made of threads between 900 and 1100 denier and whereinsaid leg enclosing portion prevents penetration by snake fangs even whenthe snake fangs are longer than the thickness of the leg enclosingportion, and said leg enclosing portion is less than 1/4" in thickness..Iaddend. .Iadd.12. The article of claim 11 wherein said woven fabricweighs between 8.0 and 12.0 ounces per square yard. .Iaddend. .Iadd.13.The article of claim 11 wherein the inside of said woven fabric has acoating of a synthetic rubber polymer. .Iaddend. .Iadd.14. The articleof claim 13 wherein said coating is a coating of polyurethane of between1 and 2 ounces per square yard. .Iaddend. .Iadd. A protective article ofclothing adapted to prevent snake fangs from biting into the leg of awearer, said protective article comprising:(a) a generally tubular legenclosing portion made of a woven fabric of nylon resistant to snakebites and having an upper part and a lower part, said lower partincluding a fastener for connecting two side edges of the lower part,and (b) a securing means attached to said upper part for holding the legenclosing portion up on a wearer's leg, andwherein said leg enclosingportion comprises nylon fiber in the form of a continuous filament yarn,said woven fabric weighs between 8.0 and 12.0 ounces per square yard,and wherein said leg enclosing portion prevents penetration by snakefangs even when the snake fangs are longer than the thickness of the legenclosing portion, and said leg enclosing portion is less than 1/4" inthickness. .Iaddend. .Iadd.16. The article of claim 15 wherein theinside of said woven fabric has a coating of a synthetic rubber polymer..Iaddend. .Iadd.17. The article of claim 16 wherein said coating isbetween 1 and 2 ounces per square yard. .Iaddend. .Iadd.18. The articleof claim 17 wherein said woven fabric is made of threads between 900 and1100 denier. .Iaddend. .Iadd.19. A protective article of clothingadapted to prevent snake fangs from biting into the leg of a wearer,said protective article comprising:(a) a generally tubular leg enclosingportion made of a woven fabric of nylon resistant to snake bites andhaving an upper part and a lower part, said lower part including afastener for connecting two side edges of the lower part, and (b) asecuring means attached to said upper part for holding the leg enclosingportion up on a wearer's leg, andwherein said leg enclosing portioncomprises nylon fiber in the form of continuous filament yarn, whereinsaid leg enclosing portion comprises at most two layers of said wovenfabric, and wherein said leg enclosing portion prevents penetration bysnake fangs even when the snake fangs are longer than the thickness ofthe leg enclosing portion. .Iaddend. .Iadd.20. The article of claim 19wherein said woven fabric is made of threads between 900 and 1100denier. .Iaddend. .Iadd.21. The article of claim 20 wherein said wovenfabric weighs between 8.0 and 12.0 ounces per square yard. .Iaddend..Iadd.22. The article of claim 19 wherein said woven fabric weighsbetween 8.0 and 12.0 ounces per square yard. .Iaddend. .Iadd.23. Aprotective article of clothing adapted to prevent snake fangs frombiting into the leg of a wearer, said protective article comprising:(a)a generally tubular leg enclosing portion made of a woven fabric ofnylon resistant to snake bites and having an upper part and a lowerpart, said lower part including a fastener for connecting two side edgesof the lower part, and (b) a securing means attached to said upper partfor holding the leg enclosing portion up on a wearer's leg, andsaid legenclosing portion comprises nylon fiber in the form of continuousfilament yarn, wherein said lower part includes more than one layer ofsaid woven fabric and said upper part has fewer layers of said wovenfabric than said lower part, and wherein said leg enclosing portionprevents penetration by snake fangs even when the snake fangs are longerthan the thickness of the leg enclosing portion, and said leg enclosingportion is less than 1/4" in thickness. .Iaddend. .Iadd.24. The articleof claim 23 wherein said woven fabric weighs between 8.0 and 12.0 ouncesper square yard. .Iaddend. .Iadd.25. The article of claim 24 whereinsaid woven fabric is made of threads between 900 and 1100 denier..Iaddend. .Iadd.26. The article of claim 23 wherein said woven fabric ismade of threads between 900 and 1100 denier. .Iaddend. .Iadd.27. Thearticle of claim 23 wherein the inside of said woven fabric has acoating of a synthetic rubber polymer. .Iaddend.